____________________________________________ 6 IICC Perspectives army medical staff to medical ethics. The combination of military ethics and medical ethics is a force multiplier that deserves to serve as an example and be emulated. It can be justifiably assumed that if the officers in the intelligence divisions had a code of ethics corresponding to that of the medical corps, at least some of the intelligence failures would have been avoided in the recent war. The attempts made in recent years to establish a code of ethics for military intelligence progressed to an advanced stage but not to a successful conclusion, not for practical reasons but because of a problematic organizational culture. Statehood and discipline During Aviv Kochavi's tenure as IDF Chief of Staff, the value of statehood was added to the “Spirit of the IDF”, the IDF code of ethics. Statehood requires military activity for the benefit of all and has been fundamental to the IDF's identity from the day it was founded. Statehood has diverse practical implications. One is that every military action a soldier takes must follow orders and procedures, including orders for opening fire, and IDF values. Any action based on other considerations is invalid because according to the operational regulations it has not been carried out in the name of the IDF. It is also dangerous, because if a soldier recently heard his commander make a statement based on external considerations, he may question the validity of his commander's orders. Thus, such conduct is liable to be contrary to the values of statehood and discipline. During the war foreign correspondents showed me hundreds of videos uploaded to social networks by soldiers in the combat zones who had photographed themselves and asked me what I thought about them. The distribution of such videos is contrary to the principles of statehood and discipline and is also against the orders. After watching hundreds of videos, I allow myself a cautious generalization: they were all taken by reservists, in only one video did I see officers (a captain and a major) and in no video did I see female soldiers. Beyond the mere fact of uploading the videos to the social networks, the acts depicted a wide range of improper conduct. While there was not one single act which could even broadly be described as depicting "genocide," I did see photographs of acts that clearly violated IDF values, especially human dignity, statehood and the purity of arms. The videos draw attention to a fundamental problem regarding the assimilation of IDF values by those who wear the military uniform. During their years of conscription service soldiers live in a framework bound by IDF values, their meaning and importance. When they report for reserve service, years may have passed since they last heard a reliable explanation of what those values are. I allow myself to assume that few of them have heard an explanation of statehood. Comprehensive, responsible, innovative concepts and methods are necessary to reinstall the IDF's values in the hundreds of thousands of reserve soldiers participating in the war. LG Aviv Kochavi, IDF's Chief of Staff (Source: IDF spokesperson)
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